That is likely so. Sugarman promoted the idea of confusing the public with dishonest terms to demonize that he wanted banned.
If you will remember, HCI and others only wanted to “control” handguns. Rifles would not be affected.
In 1984, the MacDonalds massacre took place in which the shooter used a pump shotgun, Browning Hi-Power, and a long barreled Uzi rifle. This is what set off Sarah Brady into an anti-rifle rage against rifles. She saw it as a target of opportunity to ban something, ANYTHING, as no one was expecting a move against long guns.
Josh Sugarman also hopped on the anti-rifle bandwagon with his diatribe in 1988.
More here.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josh_Sugarmann
” ... he believes a full ban on handguns is necessary.[16] He has also called for bans on semi-automatic rifles and standard-capacity magazines.[3]”